The ACU Collaborative Learning Project

Integrating Health Literacy, Language Access and Cultural Competency into Primary Care Settings: A Collaborative Learning Model

Overview

This initiative is designed to assist primary care clinics in their efforts to systematically integrate practices and policies to promote health literacy, language access and cultural competency in the delivery of primary care services using the Care Model. Clinic professionals will participate in a learning community involving regular training sessions in which they will enhance their knowledge and skills as well as share their experiences and lessons learned with other participants. The collaborative environment will enhance learning, leading to improved patient-provider communication, quality of care and patient and clinician satisfaction. The results of this pilot will inform ACU’s efforts to influence public policy on integration of health literacy, language access and cultural competency in standards for primary care and workforce training. 

 The 2006 National Health Care Disparities Report noted that, “Disparities related to race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status still pervade the American health care system.” The 2006 National Leadership Summit for Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health identified culture, language and health literacy as one of six focus areas for reducing health disparities. More recently, the National Partnership for Action (NPA) to End Health Disparities identified five key objectives. Of these, ACU’s project specifically addresses objectives 3 and 4: Improve patient-provider interaction and communication and Improve cultural and linguistic competency.

The training will be designed for participants to:

• Increase their knowledge about health literacy, language access and cultural competency and why these concepts are essential for providing quality patient-centered care; 
• Learn to assess their current practice and to implement new strategies for addressing language, culture and literacy; 
• Learn and practice specific communication skills, including how to communicate with their patients about the affordability of their care;
• Obtain practical resources and tools to support health literacy, language and cultural competency improvements in their practice settings; and 
• Identify barriers and solutions for integrating practices, principles and policies into their delivery of primary care.

Upon completion of the training, care team members and clinic administrators will have the knowledge, skills and resources to incorporate and institutionalize a unified approach to language, culture and literacy in their practices. This will promote patient-centered care, encourage patient activation, improve disease management, and create an environment for greater patient and provider satisfaction.

Faculty

Laurie Francis, MPH - Chief Executive Officer of Community Health Partners, Inc., Livingston, North Dakota
Alicia Gonzales, MSW - Director of Leadership Development and Training, National Center for Farmworker Health, Buda, TX
Tawara Goode, MA -  Director of the National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC), Georgetown University  Center for Child Health Development (GUCCHD) , Washington, DC
Michelle Roett, MD, MPH - Assistant Professor and Residency Faculty, Department of Family Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC
Christina Stevens, BBA, MPA -  Program Director for the Community Health Care Network,  Fairfax County Health Department, Fairfax, VA
Sharon Youmans, PharmD, MPH -  Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Vice Chair for Educational Affairs in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, UCSF School of Pharmacy, San Francisco, CA

Sponsor

AstraZeneca Foundation

For more information on this project, please contact Lois Wessel, CFNP